Top diplomats from Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials as Trump pushes for ownership

By Kylie Atwood, Natasha Bertrand, CNN

(CNN) — The top Washington-based diplomats for Greenland and Denmark met with White House officials at the National Security Council on Thursday as Greenland continues to publicly and privately insist it is not for sale.

Denmark’s Ambassador Jesper Møller Sørensen and Greenland’s head of representation to the US Jacob Isbosethsen met with Trump advisors, diplomats familiar with the matter told CNN.

President Donald Trump has been proclaiming that he wants to purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, since 2019. But neither he nor anyone in either of his administrations has ever privately broached the idea directly with Danish or Greenlandic officials, the diplomats familiar told CNN, despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Wednesday that the administration is “actively” discussing a potential purchase.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment about the meeting.

Even as Trump has repeatedly raised the specter of using the military to take Greenland by force, behind the scenes the US’ relationship with Nuuk and Copenhagen remained business-as-usual for most of last year, the people said.

The message that Greenland received from Trump administration officials throughout last summer was that there was no policy directive for US officials to work towards taking the island, the diplomats said.

Danish and Greenlandic officials were blindsided, therefore, when Trump appointed a special envoy to Greenland in December who said his role is aimed at making Greenland “a part of the US.” Danish and Greenlandic officials have still not heard from the envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, the diplomats said.

So when earlier this week Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller announced on CNN that it was now the “policy” of the US to acquire Greenland – adding that nobody would fight the US military “over the future of Greenland” and questioning Denmark’s right to claim the territory – Denmark and Greenland were irate. They immediately requested a high-level meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rubio is scheduled to meet with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark in Washington next week.

Trump’s renewed focus on Greenland comes just days after he authorized a military operation to capture the president of Venezuela.

The operation has heightened concerns among Danish and Greenlandic officials about Trump’s potential willingness to seize Greenland. But much like a possible purchase, the US has never directly raised the threat of military force with Danish or Greenlandic officials, either, the diplomats said – even as the White House has telegraphed publicly that it hasn’t taken military action off the table.

Rubio, meanwhile, told lawmakers earlier this week that Trump was interested in buying Greenland and downplayed the possibility of any forthcoming US military intervention to take the island by force, sources familiar with the briefing told CNN.

Officials from Greenland and Denmark have made clear both publicly and privately, however, that they will not even entertain conversions about any mechanism that could enable the sale of Greenland to the US, saying that a population cannot simply be purchased. Greenland is also not interested in a free-association agreement, the diplomats said.

Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a statement Monday: “The current and repeated rhetoric coming from the United States is entirely unacceptable. When the President of the United States speaks of ‘needing Greenland’ and links us to Venezuela and military intervention, it is not only wrong. It is disrespectful.”

The top diplomats who visited the White House on Thursday also met with lawmakers throughout the week and reiterated their message that they had no plans to negotiate a sale to the US.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the GOP chair of the Senate Armed Services committee, told reporters after meeting the diplomats that it is Denmark’s “prerogative and right” to refuse talks over the sale of the semiautonomous territory. He argued the US should focus on other “great opportunities” to enhance the country’s relationship with Denmark and Greenland.

Still, officials from Greenland remain worried about the Trump administration potentially using coercion – with economic tools or intelligence operations – to force them to entertain conversations that they are unwilling to have, diplomats said.

During the Rubio meeting next week, it is likely that the foreign ministers from both places reiterate Greenland’s willingness to work with the US on national security and minerals extraction efforts, underscoring that there are agreements already in place that would enable joint efforts to expand.

Whether or not Trump can be convinced that US national security interests can be protected with the relationship in the current status remains unclear. He has made the case that taking over the island is a national security imperative – citing concerns about the Chinese and Russian presence in the region. Trump also believes that ownership is in his view “psychologically needed for success” when it comes to the island, he told the New York Times this week.

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